March 6, 2023
Scripture Reading: Exodus 17:1-7
From the wilderness of Sin the whole congregation of the Israelites journeyed by stages, as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. The people quarreled with Moses, and said, ‘Give us water to drink.’ Moses said to them, ‘Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?’ But the people thirsted there for water; and the people complained against Moses and said, ‘Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?’ So Moses cried out to the Lord, ‘What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.’ The Lord said to Moses, ‘Go on ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.’ Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. He called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled and tested the Lord, saying, ‘Is the Lord among us or not?’
As I read this scripture, I thought of all the refugees in our world today, most fleeing feared or certain death in their homeland, others trying to protect their children from being pulled from their homes into the drug cartels life, and all stepping out in a great unknown wilderness with hope. We are God’s servants called to welcome these strangers and help them become our neighbors. My church has sponsored two refugee families in the past ten years. The first from a refugee camp in Rwanda, now a self-sustaining, self-supporting family. The other is a recently arriving family from Afghanistan, learning a new language and customs, working at a new job, and welcoming a new baby.
There are no easy answers to the challenges faced by people adrift in the world caught in the crossfires of greed, lust for power, and even climate change. Many layers of response must be well coordinated as we seek to bring about God’s Beloved Community for the whole world and all the people in it. As a wealthy nation, we must start by removing the beam from our eyes before we can even begin to make these strangers our neighbors, whether it involves improving the situation in their homeland or helping them resettle in a new place. Certainly, they must never be the scapegoats for political games.
Prayer: Lord, teach us to welcome the stranger and to open our hearts to them as they become our neighbors, near and far. Amen.
All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.